


The Christmas Wish

by Fearlesskiki



Series: Christmas Shortbreads [2]
Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe, But it could be a start of a relationship, Christmas, Doggies are good plot devices, Dogs, Gen, never knew Santas can be a turn on, this is not a love story, you can't put Macro in charge of anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 15:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5295752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearlesskiki/pseuds/Fearlesskiki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mats does not want a car, money or the latest iPhone for Christmas. He just wants a dog. Not just any dog, but a dog named Coco. And someone has heard his prayers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Christmas Wish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dimou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimou/gifts).



> I wanted to give something to you for a very long time, but I haven't figured out a good plot yet. But this came up spontaneously and I hope you enjoy it. (And hopefully, you feel better after reading it!) You are an awesome writer and friend. (But seriously do I need a reason to write something for you?) 
> 
> p/s: I miss you!
> 
> Mats Hummels - A young man who has lost his dog  
> Marco Reus - Mats' friend  
> Benedikt 'Benni' Höwedes - A young man who gives out presents during Christmas

Mats sighs after pinning a flyer on a tree. His eyes are fixed on the picture of the dog printed on the flyer. It comes with the following words: _Lost Dog. Coco. Yellow Labrador. If found, kindly contact Mr. Hummels at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Rewards will be given._ It has been 7 days since Coco ran away from home but there is still no trace of the yellow Labrador. Mats blames his friend Marco for leaving the door wide open when the latter was dogsitting for him. Marco had only one job, which is to take care Coco when Mats was not around. But even that the blond had failed miserably. Although Mats knows Marco did not lose Coco on purpose, he insists to find something to blame other than himself. Deep down inside he also has himself to blame as he left Coco behind to go on vacation with Marcel in the first place.

 

The young man has done almost everything he could to find his beloved pooch. He prayed every single day to god. He has searched high and low around the neighbourhood a few times, asking around the neighbours. He made sure he check twice at Coco's favourite spots. He even checks between the bushes and under the car in case the Labrador Retriever is hiding. Every time Mats sees a Labrador Retriever he will stop and check if it's Coco. But every time he does, he ended up disappointed by it. He has also been to the local animal shelter a couple of times, handing out lost dog flyers with rewards given to the founder but Coco is still nowhere to be found. Instead, there are plenty of impostors trying to push their luck for a reward. Mats has been getting all kinds of dogs ranging from German Shepherd to Toy Poodle. And once someone even tries with a cat. Mats has clearly stated yellow Lab in his flyers, but he got all types of dogs that he knows of except for a yellow Lab.

 

"That one is close," says Marco after Mats turns down a Golden Retriever. 

 

"Well, maybe a good family had picked her up," says Marco. He tries to smile for his friend but the smile could not last. Deep down inside Marco does feel guilty for losing Mats's dog. The blond has been trying to make up for his mistake. He has been helping Mats giving out flyers and sharing the lost dog ad in social media. The blond constantly tries to comfort his friend, but it did not seem to work. At times, he would make bad jokes to make his friend better like telling Mats to find a partner instead of a dog. But of course, Mats is not amused by that. Marco even got Mats a German Spitz puppy, but it still did not cheer him up.

 

Marco continues, "Come on, Mats. It's just a dog."

 

"Just a dog? Marco, Coco is not just a dog." Mats replies with a displeased tone. He is tired of explaining to his friends and family that Coco is not just a pet dog. To Mats, Coco is his child, companion, and soulmate. The two has spent countless time bonding and share thousand of memories together. Mats could not stay away for too long without Coco. But none of his friends and family would understand that.

 

He lets out a sigh and walks away to the sofa and rests with his head facing upward, eyes closed. Mats constantly blames himself for not able to find Coco. Blaming himself for leaving Coco behind to go for a vacation. The situation would have been easier if he had implanted a microchip in his dog prior to his vacation but the young man has never thought it was necessary until he lost his dog. However, Coco does have a dog tag with Mats's phone number on it. If someone had picked Coco up, they would have called him. But so far Mats have not received calls from anyone like that. With that reason, he is very sure that Coco is still wandering around the streets and he is worried about it. Mats could hear Marco sighs in the background. Both men have no idea what else to do except to pray for the best at this moment. Marco comes over to pat his friend's shoulder before leaving the house.

 

After a few tossing and turning on the sofa, Mats finds himself in a dream without realising it. It is only the puppy bark sounds that wake him up from the dream. Mats crack open his eyes and realises the sky has turned dark. His stomach is grumbling vigorously. The young man looks at the clock and it is already 7.13pm. He has just remembered that he has not eaten much for the whole day. No wonder his stomach is grumpy. Mats picks himself up and heads to the kitchen. He opens up his fridge and sees a very sad half-eaten burger, a chocolate bar and two cans of beer. Mats glances at the clock. It is too late to buy groceries and cook at this hour, but he could still order pizza. When the young man takes his phone and starts dialing it, he could feel someone tugging the corner of his pants. He looks down and sees a German Spitz puppy pulling and attempting to tear his pants. Mats cracks a smile and picks up the puppy.

 

"Hey little fella, you're hungry too?" he says as he looks at the puppy's eyes. The puppy whimpers as a response. The young man puts the puppy down and scoops a half cup of dog biscuits for the puppy. He then grabs a chocolate bar from the fridge for himself. As he munches the chocolate bar, the young man watches the puppy gobbles down the dog biscuits while wagging its tail. He stops chewing when he realises that he has not named his new puppy. Marco has given him the puppy since morning but Mats did not bother to care for the furry animal. He feels bad for neglecting his new puppy. Mats looks around the kitchen to find some inspirations. When he glances his chocolate bar, he twists the chocolate bar and sees the word 'Twix'. Mats flashes a wide smile as it seems like a cute name for a dog.

 

"I'll name you Twix. Do you like it, Twix?" he says to the puppy. The puppy wags its tail in response. Mats figures that he needs some fresh air and a proper dinner, and his new dog need some exercise too. So he decides to head to the town with Twix on a leash. After 5 minutes, Mats reaches the Christmas market and the market is still busy at this hour. The Christmas lights are shining brightly and stalls are selling fancy toys and mouth-watering food. People are walking around with happy faces plaster on their faces, chatting with friends and families with excitement. Everyone in the Christmas market is feeling jolly except Mats. He gets himself Bratwurst[1] and Glühwein[2] to fill his stomach while ignoring everyone else on the street. After dinner, Mats walks around the Christmas market and window shop through the stalls. As he passes by the busy stalls, Twix pulls the leash with all the energy it has towards the left. Mats turns his head to Twix's direction and pulls back the leash. Twix seems to be attracted to a person on the left. Mats looks up and sees a man with a Santa suit ringing a bell with his hand. 

 

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Hello there, little doggie. Do you want a Christmas present?" the man says. The German Spritz looks at Santa with doe eyes and wags its tail as a friendly gesture. The man grabs a little present from his bag and unwraps it. It is a bone-shaped dental chew toy. He gives the toy to the puppy and pats its head. Mats thank the man for the toy. The man looks up to Mats and says,

 

"Hello there, young man! Do you want anything for Christmas?"

 

"It's okay. I'm too old for Santa." Mats politely declines by waving his hand.

 

"Ah... Nobody is too old for Santa. Come on, tell Santa what you want." the man replies.

 

"Okay, I want a dog." Mats answers with a sarcastic tone. Santa gives him a blank stare for a while before handing him an animal shelter flyer. Mats glances at the flyer and flashes a snarky smile. He looks back to the man and says, "I want a specific dog, a Labrador Retriever dog named Coco."

 

Mats is certain that the man could not possibly know where Coco is. He just wants to let out his frustration after a long day. The young man fishes out his lost dog flyer, gives it to Santa and says, "Call me if you see my dog."

 

Santa reads the description that is printed on the flyer. _Lost Dog. Coco. Yellow Labrador. 3 years old. Wearing a red collar. Responds to the name Coco. If found, kindly contact Mr. Hummels at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Rewards will be given._  When he looks up, Mats is already long gone from the scene.

 

***

 

Mats wakes up the next day with a heavy head and tired eyes. He even feels a little sore on his back. It is Christmas eve, but Mats does feel an ounce of joy within him. He has not got much sleep the night before either. The night was filled with tossing and turning with numerous eye opening. The young man drags himself up from his bed, scratches his head while yawning. He picks up his phone and his eyes widen when he sees 8 missed calls from the same unknown number. He probably did not realise the phone calls as the phone was in silent mode the whole night. Mats quickly returns the phone call without hesitation.

 

"Hello! Merry Christmas! Who is this?" a man answers the phone.

 

"Uhm... Merry Christmas. May I know who called me last night?" Mats asks.

 

"Oh, it's you! I called you because of the lost dog ad that you gave to me yesterday. I've found a dog a few days ago and I was wondering if it's yours." the man replies.

 

"Oh my god! Really?! Yes, sure! Where can we meet up?" Mats quickly responds.

 

They agreed to meet up at Mats's house, as it is incidentally the same path as the man's next destination. Mats quickly freshen himself up and prays that the dog is Coco. About an hour after the phone call, the doorbell rings. As soon as Mats opens the door, a Labrador Retriever pounces up to Mats' hips. It wags its tail excessively and starts to bark in a loud voice. Mats' face turns into joy as soon as he recognises the dog. It is his Coco. When Mats looks up to thank the man, he is surprised to see the figure in front of him.

 

"Thank you... Santa?" he says.

 

"Hahaha... I mean ho ho ho! You're welcome and Merry Christmas!" the man in a Santa suit replies. The man removes his Santa hat and beard. He turns out to be a young chap with blond hair, nicely groomed facial hair and a lovely smile. He stretches his hand out for a handshake. "I think I should introduce myself. My name is Benedikt. But you can call me Benni."

 

"I'm... I'm Mats." Mats utters as he stretches his hand out to accept Benni's handshake. "Are you the Santa last night? Why are you still in the Santa suit?"

 

"Yeah, I am. And yes, I'm wearing the suit as I have some things to do later on. Figured that I just change from home." Benni says with a bright smile. "I found Coco a few days ago when I was walking my neighbour's dog. It just came right at us. I wanted to call the number from its name tag, but the numbers are blurred."

 

"Oh. Thank you. Right, let me get your reward." Mats says.

 

"It's okay. I didn't do it for the reward." Benni says as he grabs Mats' arm.

 

"Uhm... But how can I repay you?" Mats asks.

 

"Hmm... I know I shouldn't ask this but are you free today?" Benni asks as he places his hand under his chin.

 

"I'm going to my mother's place for dinner tonight, but I'm basically free until 5 pm." Mats replies.

 

"Awesome! And I need to borrow your dogs as well." Benni says with a warm smile. 

 

Mats nods in agreement and he follows Benni to the latter's car with Coco and Twix without knowing what is installed for him. The backseat of the car is packed full of presents and Coco can barely fit in even after some readjustment. Mats sits in the front passenger seat with Twix at his lap while Benni at the driver's seat. Both men kept quiet during the first few minutes of the journey. Mats is puzzled by the situation and could not resist asking Benni about it. "So, where are we going?" 

 

"To the orphanage," Benni replies with a smile. Mats furrows his eyebrows. He is still puzzled by Benni's action. It is great that the blond has a kind heart. But he wonders why Benni has to do it today, at a Christmas Eve where everyone else has gone back to spend Christmas with their families. 

 

"But why today? Don't you need to spend the holidays with your family?" Mats questions Benni. 

 

"That's my only family. I'm an orphan," he replies with a nonchalant tone. 

 

Mats winces his eyes after hearing that from Benni. He feels bad for asking the question. He quickly apologises to Benni. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

 

"It's okay. I'm used to it." Benni cuts him off. 

 

Mats stares at the beautiful young man beside him with sympathy in his eyes. He could not believe that a person with such kind heart would have this kind of fate. It would probably be very hard for someone to go through the holidays alone for many years. Mats could never imagined something like this to himself. He counts himself lucky to be born with a perfect family with loving parents and caring siblings. Mats just wishes he could do something for Benni just to make his day a little better. And after some thought, he finally came out with something.

 

"Benni, would you like to join my family for dinner tonight?"

 

"What?!" Benni says with a surprised tone.

 

"Dinner. I want you to join my family for a Christmas dinner if that's okay for you." Mats says. Benni immediately stops the car and looks at Mats in the eye. He takes a deep breath and tears start to form in his eyes. He grabs Mats' hand and gives it a little squeeze before he starts talking.

 

"Thank you, Mats. Thank you for making my wish come true."

**Author's Note:**

> [1] bratwurst - a type of fine German pork sausage that is generally fried or grilled.  
> [2] Glühwein - Mull Wine, made from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star aniseed, citrus, rum, sugar and vanilla pods
> 
> Ho ho ho~ I'm so hyped about Christmas and I hope you do too! 
> 
> Fact: Coco and Twix are Mats' doggies name in real life.
> 
> If you like it please give me a kudos. Share it with your friends. Please tell me anything in the comments and I will try my very best to improve :) Every kudos, comment, subscription and bookmark means the world to me. Thank you :D
> 
> Yeah, you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://fearlesskiki.tumblr.com/) and [join the FBD Book Club!](https://footballblogsdirectory.tumblr.com/post/160746377878/welcome-to-the-fbd-book-club-this-is-a-place-to)


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